Day 40
We had 12-mile hike today to Woods Hole Hostel, which is another “famous” hostel on the trail. We were excited to go, as they make organic food mostly from their own farm and we were craving real food. From Dismal Falls, we hiked through flat low land and rhododendron with lots of mud and creeks. After about 6.5 miles we reached Wapiti Shelter, which we all called the murder shelter as two women were killed there about 20 years ago. After that, we had a monster of a climb to a “lookout” tower. This tower turned out to be a freaking cell phone tower with no view. I’ve found Virginia had three main themes: Ridgelines (without a view), Rocks, and Rhododendron. I am so far really disliking Virginia, as I’ve been here for over a week and seen hardly a view at all, terribly maintained trails, and bad water, but I digress… We pushed on to Woods Hole and got here to find out they don’t shuttle to Pearisburg (which we needed) and they don’t have wifi (which they advertised and we were looking forward to using). The hostel was great though and they had a hot outdoor shower in a bed of river rock. They recycle, compost, and grow all the food they eat here. They even keep their own bees! I’m definitely looking forward to breakfast in the morning and getting to Pearisburg in the morning for a resupply and new shoes and clothes! The photo is of the hostel, which is so far my favorite one on the trail.